My book about the history of storytellers in my family will be out in 2026, please watch out for it!
I am represented by Lisette Verhagen of Peters Frasers and Dunlop (PFDA).
https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/303437/carla-montemayor
The first edition sold out in 8 weeks back in 2022! This new edition is co-published by Open City and Fitzcarraldo Editions, with many new restaurant recommendations by the editor, acclaimed food writer Jonathan Nunn. You can buy the book here:
https://open-city.org.uk/blog/london-feeds-itself-available-to-order
I'm one of the 40 fellows for the London Library's Emerging Writers Programme this year! I'm thrilled to meet a new network of writers, read new work plus explore the London Library's vast catalogue. I'm starting research on my second project, which is about the history of women storytellers in my family.
In 2021, I received a London Writers Award in Narrative Non-Fiction. For ten months, I was part of a wonderful cohort of talented writers, learning about publishing, giving each other feedback and working on our projects. My work in progress is a memoir of my life in London over the last decade, watch out for it!
I'm in Issue 9 of Hinterland Magazine (sold out!), a UK publication dedicated to creative non-fiction. My piece, The Shapeshifters, is about the unique history of women in my family as storytellers from precolonial times in the Philippines. It was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the editors of Hinterland.
My piece Broken/Basag was shortlisted for the Specimen Prize 2021. In it I recall growing up during the Marcos dictatorship in 1980s Philippines, and my accidental discovery of Margaret Thatcher's temporary resting place in London upon her death in 2013.
Read my piece (PDF format) North of the River, which was shortlisted for Spread the Word's Life Writing Prize in 2020. It is about my mother's life and childhood.